Fame Who-r's Are Us?
Struggling with Self-Promotion? Me Too!
One of the reasons I never shared my part in founding the influencer marketing industry is because of what I saw it do to generations of young people. What started out as a great way to amplify a cause or product, getting truly influential people to share brands they appreciated with friends, morphed into a promotion of superficiality that inspired a rise in eating disorders and fake lifestyles.
Now, I fear we have repacked the same message with self-promotion in digital and social media. How do we succeed in a society that celebrates and rewards those that pursue fame via attention at all costs? I know this well as the pressure to take my best-selling new book to new levels comes to bear and I am forced to work within a system I REALLY dislike to get my message of self-love into a world struggling with an epic mental health crisis. It is a situation that challenges me on every level.
In a recent Vox article, Rebecca Jennings beautifully covers the topic by exploring the fact that the economy, social media, and dominance of a few companies in industries like publishing and music have forced creators to spend most of their time trying to game the system. The attention economy IS forcing most creators to become what my generation was taught is a sellout. Meditation is a lifesaver but I am hard-pressed not to be completely disgusted.
An excerpt from Rebecca Jennings’ article on Vox:
You’ve got to offer your content to the hellish, overstuffed, harassment-laden, uber-competitive attention economy because otherwise no one will know who you are. In a recent interview with the Guardian, the author Naomi Klein said the biggest change in the world since No Logo, her 1999 book on consumerism and inescapable branding, came out was that “neoliberalism has created so much precarity that the commodification of the self is now seen as the only route to any kind of economic security.”
As a deeply introverted person, I struggle to constantly self-promote. If you read Memory Mansion, you know that I spent 20 years knee-deep in fashion and entertainment PR, slaving to be respected by the system. After spending years healing and learning to love myself, I really despise the idea of constantly being in the SAME kind of chase. To me, a great message should grow organically. It's a process that takes years when shocking and sensational sells and most major PR opportunities are tied to important connections or large budgets.
For the record, I am thrilled that Memory Mansion was at # 1 all week. I am humbled and so very grateful. The book shares my journey to healing and transformation and the idea of pushing that message out by spending hours every day pursuing likes and shares is the antithesis of my message. However, my advisors keep reminding me that fame is the game and the only way to monetize my creativity in today’s world is to bend right over. I say fu%k that. I like seeing who is screwing me. So, unless you can create a mirror that reflects the truth back to everyone involved, I am not interested.
As a spiritual teacher and potty-mouthed writer, I balk at the idea of participating in a never-ending chase. I have seen what it does to people and you might as well be chained to a high-speed treadmill. As a futurist, I see the public hitting social selling burnout soon and carefully cultivated content as the future. It can’t happen soon enough for me.
Have a beautiful weekend!
Cynthia
